Just the Three of Us
by Smoky
Summary: The three maidens of Noir under one roof in Paris. What does life after the Manor have in store for them? And can they learn to live together? [shoujoai] :edited and updated!
1. Track 12: Chloe: Reprisal

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_I salute those who can write awesome Noir humour! I wish I had your delightful unbridled randomness. There is something about my writing that just does not do humour … but, one can always try, and if it burns your eyes, don't sue :)_

\Edit edit edit. Not really happy with this chappie, done some minor editing but I'd rather move on. So please to read the next chapters if you might, they will definitely be better at least than this one :3\__

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Noir; I apologise if I have used anyone else's words; and I know nothing about Paris :)

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**Track 12 - Chloe (Reprisal)**  
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Along the streets of Paris, a bowed purple head marched on with pace, with purpose.

Chloe was back, and making her way to the old apartment that Mireille and Kirika shared.

As she walked she entered into a flashback, of waking up on the cold stone bier … finding that fork at her side. It had taken a while to become re-orientated with her surroundings, and to remember what had happened. The carnage she found at the Manor had been kind of devastating. For all that she had been raised with blood and violence and death, the Manor was her only home and the nutcases that passed through its corridors were her only family. On top of that, there was no trace of Altena, anywhere. Not even a plate of cookies. Or a note to say she had left a plate of cookies.

Chloe did not like this. Altena ALWAYS made cookies when she was going away. And even if they were hard as rocks, that had been where Chloe had acquired her skill in the use of knives, which she needed to break up the burnt black rocks into chunks that wouldn't choke her.

Apart from a lot of dead bodies all over, there really were not many clues as to what had happened. She could only gamble on the chance that Kirika and Mireille had returned to Paris – together – and they at any rate would have answers.

Now, walking here along the streets of Paris was not by any means proving to be a pleasant experience. People were looking at her. Staring. A random infuriating old lady even dared to sidle up to her, tugging at her purple locks.

'Why darling, what's the matter with your hair?'

'Nothing!' She pulled away in horror but the old lady suddenly held a clump of loose purple curls in her hand, and dropped them shrieking.

'Eeekk! Leave me alone!' Chloe would have thrown knives if she'd had any, but she only had forks from Mireille's apartment, many of them, hidden inside her clothes and poking her in suspicious areas, and she intended on keeping them. So instead she simply marched away. Remembering her training, she looked right and left before stepping out onto the street, but failed to notice where her foot landed and promptly fell down into the drain. \AN: personal experience... -.-'\

Chloe was grateful to finally arrive at the turn-off that meant her destination was very near. She located the apartment, and stood in the solace of the darkening square looking up at the window railings and the rooftop she remembered well. But the windows of the apartment were shut and the room beyond was dull. This had not been in her grand re-entry plan … She wondered for a moment if perhaps Mireille and Kirika were not out for the evening, or else inside hiding, before her gaze lowered and fell upon a sign that shouted 'FOR RENT'.

The world momentarily froze.

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' screamed Chloe tearing at her hair. The rest of it fell out with horrible ease and she was left standing in a pile of purple fuzz.

'I come all this way to reclaim my future, and they are already gone!! Those wretched horrors! How shall I find them in such a large city!' She began to wail noisily throwing away lots of random forks in a symbolic gesture of loss.

A shoe came out of a window beyond and hit her, suddenly joggling her memory.

'_Kusoooo_, it is the wrong one!'

She took one step to the right and looked in the next set of windows. They looked exactly the same but were open, and there was a soft golden glow coming from inside the apartment. Then voices came floating out into the evening air.

'Mireille …' (Chloe's eyebrow wiggled on hearing the name.)

'Mmmmm …'

'How about here?'

'There? Hmm … hmmmm … Oh yes Kirika, that's good.'

'Here?'

'Yes … There! Right there …'

Chloe's eyes expanded rapidly until they took up half of her face.

'And this …'

'How about there?'

'_Ahh_ …'

Somebody let out a giggle, the kind of which Chloe had never heard before, and her brains suddenly exploded at the realisation of what she was hearing.

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' screamed Chloe tearing her eyebrows because she had no more hair to pull. The sound travelled clearly into the apartment and in five seconds Kirika and Mireille appeared above, leaning over the railings looking at a bald screaming Chloe with no eyebrows.

'Chloe!' gasped Mireille.

'It is a little cold – isn't it?' said Kirika.

'I thought you were dead!'

'Rubbish! Did you really think I could die from two little fork holes? You are even more stupid than I thought!'

Kirika was already lost in looking at the beauty of the snow on the rooftops and missed the slight on her professionalism. Mireille pulled her boot from the end table next to the window. Her boots were already wrecked from the abuse of days on the feet of Noir, but she kept them for sentimental value and to throw at any flea-infested stray animals or door-to-door salespeople. They were covered in a terrible green stink cloud. Chloe sweatdropped in horror.

Now Kirika looked at Chloe. 'So, you weren't dead … You're a good actress. Did you ever consider joining a drama group?'

Another sweatdrop joined the first one on Chloe's temple. She began to speak just as Mireille yelled 'You should have stayed dead!' and threw the boot. It flew gracefully into her open mouth.

'Ughhhh!' Chloe gagged. 'Shut up! You pushed me out of my rightful place! You and Kirika living here in Paris – it was supposed to be me! ME! And now I come here and find you, doing all sorts of _unspeakable_—'

'It's not what you think it is,' said Mireille hurriedly.

'—buying new furniture! Re-arranging the apartment! As though you would be here forever—TOGETHER!'

'—Ehh??'

Mireille and Kirika suddenly went very red and hot in the face so the snow on the window melted and splashed onto the ground, washing Chloe's hair away.

'Uhh—'

'Actually …—'

'Well—'

'_A—Anou_ …'

'Shut up!' cried Chloe in despair. 'This is all wrong!' She swayed on the spot covering her eyes, then fainted dramatically like a damsel as if in defeat. Kirika and Mireille stammered themselves into silence and stood there for a minute looking at her. Then a clock chimed loudly somewhere, shocking them.

Mireille sighed. 'What a day. We really ought to go to bed soon – _ne_, Kirika?'

It was six o'clock in the evening.

'How about some tea first?'

'Sounds good.' They shared a mushy fuzzy sort of smile. Kirika moved to close the windows looking down at Chloe's slumped figure. Looking over at her partner, Kirika was startled to see that she suddenly looked a little contemplative.

'What's wrong, sweet?'

'You know – I am surprised – I actually feel a little sorry seeing Chloe lying there in the snow. It must be rather cold.'

Kirika was horrified and took a step backwards, slipping on a loose pool ball. 'Who are you?! What have you done with Mireille? The true Mireille would never say such a thing!'

'No, no.' A soft, sweet background music started to play. Mireille reached out and took her hand, and her voice lowered gently. 'I know that you didn't want things with Chloe to end the way they did, and for your happiness I would bear her presence. Really, she has nowhere to go after all. Just promise me …' she touched Kirika's fingers to her lips '… that you are mine.'

Kirika smiled up into her eyes, puppy-dog browns into endless blue. She leaned in and kissed Mireille quickly.

'My love …'

A moment later after the cute music finished, Kirika returned to the window and called down to Chloe. 'Would you like to join us for some tea?'

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It was quite like the first moonlit mad tea party, only this time Chloe was the one doing the glaring. Mireille set out the plates and food while waiting for Kirika to prepare the tea, and took advantage of her absence to taunt the hunched figure at the table.

'Here we are again, the three of us, drinking tea by moonlight. Just like you wanted before, hey?'

Chloe continued glaring, but as she no longer had eyebrows to convey her point Mireille simply smiled irritatingly at her, not noticing anything.

Kirika came to the table with three cups. She set down her own, and Mireille's, and then turned to Chloe. 'Here. I'm sorry … we didn't have enough teabags.' She handed Chloe a cup of hot water.

A twitch formed at the back of Chloe's head.

'I'm sorry, Chloe. Would you like a cookie?'

Looking down at the plate of cookies before her, Chloe suddenly took a step backwards (as much as you can step backwards while sitting in a chair) and let out a cry of horror, her eyes wide in shock. She fell into a flashback, a repeat of the footage of her waking up from the dead; then a flashback within the flashback to all the times that Altena had left her cookies – chocolate cookies, chocolate chip cookies, butternut cookies, raisin cookies, raw cookies – all scorched and burned charcoal black (yes even the raw ones … somehow). Unfortunately, unlike the Soldats watch the oven in the Manor didn't play a dinky melody, but it had a funky kind of 'ting!' sound for the timer which became the background beat of the flashback.

The camera zoomed right in on the blackened cookies before a sudden snap back to the present.

'… Chloe?' Kirika pushed the plate towards her.

Chloe picked up one of the small round mounds and bit tentatively into it, promptly losing a tooth.

'We would have liked to have something softer, but all of our forks have _mysteriously_ gone missing.' Mireille's smile was sweet but deadly. 'Have another cookie.'

Another tooth cracked onto the floor and rolled away out of sight.

The three of them sat in silence for a while, sipping tea and nibbling cookie crumbs. Chloe tried to enjoy her hot water. Her eyes darted back and forth between the other two, narrowing more and more with every glance until it was surprising she could see at all.

Finally, Kirika finished her tea and stood up.

Chloe almost died in terror at that moment, expecting to be thrown out of the apartment by that cow Mireille Bouquet; but, to her surprise, the cow turned to her, lips deathly thin.

'For Kirika's sake, you can stay – for now,' she said, eyes shut as if praying for strength. 'But on one condition—I will not tolerate such a hideous sight in this apartment. _Tomorrow_, we are taking you to get rid of that eyesore on your head – oops I mean, that used to be – uh. Never mind.' Chloe's eyes were already starting to water from the memory of her beautiful mushroom-shaped hair.

When the tea things had been cleared away and they were ready for bed, Mireille banished Chloe briefly to the bathroom (being the only room in the apartment that was shut off by a door). She stood with her hands on her hips and frowned at the bed. 'Kirika, sweetheart?'

'Mmm?'

'Where shall we put Chloe?' She looked about the open-plan apartment in disdain. 'I'll not have her sleeping in the same room as us.'

'Well …… but Mireille, the bathroom is—'

'Good idea!' Mireille promptly barged back into the bathroom and tossed Chloe down onto the cold tile floor. 'Bonus! You get to sleep here. _Ii ka, _Chloe?'

'UH! IT'S F-F-F-F-FREEZ—' stuttered the elite assassin.

'—Good! Sleep well!' Mireille chimed and slammed the door shut. She crawled quickly into the warm bed beside Kirika, leaving Chloe shivering away on the bathroom floor.

No-one in the apartment got a wink of sleep that night.

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	2. When the Lights Go Out

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_  
Thanks for the feedback. Actually I honestly did not think about that. So … a little less gratuitous cruelty and a little more humour. Just some last bits to work out for continuity!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Noir. 

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**When the Lights Go Out  
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Mireille made good on her vow and dragged them all out the next afternoon, crossly leading the way to her preferred beauty parlour on the other side of town. Chloe followed at a distance, dressed in a pink body suit and poncho she'd found in Kirika's wardrobe (Altena had insisted way back when that they have matching outfits). She was relieved somewhat at this, as having something so familiar to wear made it easier to endure the great farce in which she had found herself.

Kirika trailed behind demurely carrying a box of ice-cream cones, so she could stick one in her mouth for that irresistible cute look in case Mireille's plan went _too_ well and she preferred the look of the made-over Chloe.

The salon was a formidable building with large glass windows. Mireille strode in completely unfazed, pushing Chloe in front of her and nodding at the beautician. Her reputation preceded her something chronic in this part of town and she was known to every hairdresser and beauty artist in Paris.

The beautician looked past her at Chloe, eyebrowless and bald, sporting the body suit and poncho complete with hefty eyebags and two missing teeth. At once all the clients in the parlour ran towards the door screaming in disgust and the beauticians ganged up to bodily shove them out, slamming the door shut behind them.

Kirika immediately crammed a cone in her mouth as Mireille was looking angry, but the fuming blonde barely noticed. Instead she clenched her fists, and after a minute bowed her head and turned away.

'I cannot look at you now. You are a disturbing enigma, to my fashionable eyes. Kirika, take her home.' She started to walk away.

'Mireille – wait – where are you going?'

'I'm going to go do what I do best. KILL THESE WHO HAVE SHAMED US IN FRONT OF ALL OF PARIS.'

An awkward silence complete with tumbleweed.

'Just kidding,' Mireille added. Nobody laughed. 'I'm going to shop, what else? Go home. I'll see you later.'

Kirika let her go, watching with a look that was puzzled, amused and concerned all at once. She rolled her eyes at Chloe and shrugged.

'Women!'

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Kirika pushed in the door of the apartment and headed straight to the kitchen to make (what else?) some tea. Chloe sat at the table, waiting, and fidgeted. When Kirika returned she was relieved to see that the cup she handed her actually contained tea, sweet brown milky tea.

Nevertheless she sat there and kept fidgeting throughout the afternoon tea, barely eating anything. Kirika was quick to notice this and gave her the same look she had given Mireille earlier.

'Kirika … what happened to you?' Chloe said, quite sadly. 'Before all this … you were different. You cared— … We were special. What happened? Did Mireille hypnotise you? Even that day when she came for you … and you—'

At the mention of her partner Kirika's eyes suddenly went swirly and she began to chant in an extremely un-Kirika-like deep voice,  
_'Mireille ... is … sexy  
__made … outta … Pepsi  
__Mireille … wears … cotton  
__looks … really … hot on—'_

'Please, Kirika!' yelped Chloe.

'Sorry …' said Kirika snapping out of her trance instantly and blushing furiously. 'I'm sorry, Chloe. I think it is Mireille … If you ever saw legs like hers you would also—uhhh … I mean.' She was stumbling. 'I'm sorry I was so bad to you last night. It was just that we were … umm … well just before you came, Mireille was … ah … I—' Kirika was the colour of a very red vegetable.

'Never mind,' said Chloe faintly. 'I think I get the picture.'

'Will you forgive me?' Kirika pulled the huge reddish-brown deer eyes that nobody could resist, and gazed at Chloe. Chloe felt something funny that was like her soul being entirely absorbed.

'You know, considering everything we've been through, we probably all deserve to be killed by each other. But,' Chloe paused for a gasp of air, feeling a strange rush of adoration returning 'let's just see what life now brings us …'

At that moment, all the lights in the apartment flickered and died.

'Huh?'

The light of afternoon outside made the difference barely noticeable, until Kirika went in to get more hot water and discovered that nothing in the apartment was working. No heat, no gas, no electricity …

'Uh-oh.'

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It was already evening and starting to get properly dark before they heard a key scraping in the lock. A lithe white figure stumbled through the door weighed down at the arms with rustling bags.

'Mireille?' called Kirika. She scrambled over and kissed her.

'Hello, darling. (-cough- Hello Chloe.) Whatever's happened to the lights?'

Just then there was a small explosion from somewhere in the kitchen. They rushed in just in time to see the dishwasher burst briefly in flames. Some small red rectangle envelopes were visible in the middle of the fire.

'Overdue bills!' cried Kirika.

Chloe spluttered. 'In the _dishwasher?_'

'Don't tell me they cut us off! Curses!' Mireille stamped her foot impatiently. A faint cry of annoyance floated up from the apartment below. 'We can't—'

'… what?'

Mireille bit her lip, and Kirika suddenly noticed her new haircut which was exactly the same as the old one. Chloe was purposefully prodding at the sea of shopping bags all over the floor.

'What?' snapped Mireille. 'All right, so I spent all my money. It's your fault. Buying Home Brand doesn't qualify as retail therapy you know.'

'What are we supposed to do now?'

'I'll get dinner,' Kirika offered. Chloe and Mireille were obliged to return to the window where they stood glowering at each other in the moonlight.

Then Mireille gasped. 'Your hair!'

It was true, Chloe very suddenly had a full head of hair regrown. She returned the irritating smile of last night.

'You should know, Mireille Bouquet. Our kind grow in the dark.'

'Is that Engrish, horticulture or just strange use of a thesaurus?'

'Is _that_ an insult?'

Just as they were about to start fighting again, Kirika appeared with dinner. There was no way of cooking anything so they had no choice but to eat raw. Raw carrots, raw cabbage, raw rice, raw fish.

'I think this is supposed to be popular in Japan …'

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Chloe retired after dinner to enjoy the night with her new-grown hair. Kirika and Mireille took the opportunity for another romantic moment at the window, where they stood soaking up the moonlight, so close they trembled together in the cold of the apartment. Kirika slid her arm shyly around Mireille's waist and snuggled against her.

It was really quite a beautiful scene, the two standing there side by side, gazing at each other, understanding each other's heart without even needing words.

_Gee,_ said Kirika's gaze, _it's really cold in here_.

_I know,_ said Mireille's gaze in reply._ Why the hell did I decide to buy that brand new exactly-the-same-as-what-I-always-wear red top instead of that foot warmer that was on special? We could have been wrapped up and cosy with our feet toasty warm, not that we would have had any hot water but I'm sure we could've lit a fire or something, or borrowed from next door. Sure they still owe me for the time I—oh damn it all, it's too cold for this! Come on, baby, let's get to bed._

_Okay._

Kirika closed the window shutters and made her way in the direction of the bed.

'OOF!!'

A sharp pain told her she had tripped over something. Mireille was lying on the floor having bumped into an unidentified object. The shutters blocked out the last of the moonlight, and the dark was very disorientating.

_CLANG!_

'ACK!'

_CRASH._

'Oooof!'

_BANG!_

'Ughh!'

_THUD._

'Owww …'

At last they made it to the bed and collapsed gratefully upon it, slightly bruised, and huddled together under the covers.

'Good-night, Mireille.'

'Good-night, Kirika …'

They leaned in towards one another and missed, Kirika's lips brushing a mass of hair, Mireille's mouth taking in a heap of fluff from the pillow. Spitting, Mireille cursed.

'We really must get rid of those bills.'

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	3. Back in Business

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_I talk too much!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Anything you recognise I most likely don't own._

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**Back in Business  
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It was the quiet of a sore, lazy Saturday morning that was broken by insistent knocking at the apartment door.

_Thump, thump_.

'… unnggghhhhhh,' said Mireille. Time and Kirika had made her increasingly less of an early riser.

_Thump, thump_.

'Just a minute,' she mumbled, slithering out of the bed. A quick check of herself and the apartment to see that both were presentable and nothing was showing, and she shuffled to the door and pulled it open.

Her muscles froze in horror. It was a slightly nervous-looking stereotype of a business woman, dark red hair in a bun and a disdaining expression behind her glasses. She looked the blonde in her pyjamas up and down before speaking to the floor.

'Miss Bouquet? I'm from … your … uh, the real estate, uh, agent. I'm here to conduct just a brief property inspection this morning.'

Mireille's eye twitched. 'All right. Come on in.'

'Very good, Miss.' She ducked in the door trying to avoid Mireille's ice-eyed watch.

Kirika was sitting up in bed, peering curiously at the excessively neat woman. Having quickly paced the perimeter of the apartment's main room and kitchen, the woman came up the stairs to the bedroom and promptly fell over upon seeing Kirika. She tried and failed to hide her confused staring from the annoyed-looking blonde to the inquisitive dark-haired girl and back, blinking and blinking and blinking and thereafter appearing not to notice Kirika in the bed.

Mireille shrugged at Kirika. Kirika winked.

After a moment there came an ear-splitting 'EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!' from the bathroom, where the agent had just pushed open the door. They were at her side in a moment, and saw what she was looking at – a little mound on the floor curled up under a blanket, rising and falling with deep breaths, with a soft purple fuzz poking out from one end.

'T-this is—?' the agent stammered. She turned to Mireille and Kirika. 'I'm sure—Miss Bouquet!—we have very strict guidelines with regards to keeping pets in—'

At this the purple mound twitched and sat up suddenly, resolving itself in the form of a sleep-dishevelled Chloe. She blinked away the shock remarkably quickly, and glared at the woman; the poor woman had, in all of her one month as an agent, never before seen such bizarre tenants and fainted clean in shock. But just as the three assassins were about to give up wondering what to do and have tea, the agent recovered herself in order to remind Mireille that rent was due in a week.

'Rats,' Mireille muttered under her breath. 'I was hoping she'd forget that bit.'

They watched her departure in silence.

'Mireille … I didn't know that you had inspections,' Kirika whispered after a moment.

'Once in a blue moon,' the blonde sighed.

Kirika turned towards the window and saw the last of a very round, very blue moon disappearing behind clouds.

'What rotten luck …'

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They had the tea then. It was mucky and made with cold water, since they still had no power. Mireille tapped her spoon idly against her plate and sighed in resignation. 'We're going to have to start working again. I had hoped it wouldn't be this soon …'

Kirika looked at her thoughtfully. 'We know we always will be Noir … We were destined to be, somehow. It was Altena who had always commanded our guns until now, but now that she is gone it is up to us what we do with the name. But …' her nose wiggled and she scratched at it 'to those in the dark …'

Mireille smiled in spite of herself. 'Because we seek light. Yes.'

'But, it won't always be that easy …'

'I know. We'll try though. We'll do our best. That's all we can promise. You!' Mireille said suddenly to Chloe 'are you in?'

Chloe was taken aback and waited for the invective.

'You're here, you might as well make yourself useful.'

She closed her eyes slowly, turning this over in her mind. 'So … the fox and hound are to hunt side by side.'

'Yes. I suppose they are.' Mireille paused. 'It isn't as though we have much of a choice, unless we … I don't know … happened to come across some sort of _miraculous_ windfall …'

Right on cue, a white envelope came flying in through the window towards Chloe's head.

There was silence in the apartment while Chloe pulled out some official-looking papers and skimmed through them at a feverish pace.

It was a letter from Soldats.

After a moment she said miserably, 'They went through the Manor … I inherited Altena's fortune.'

'How much?'

'Twenty-five Euros …' she replied, even more miserably.

'What?! That stingy cow!' Mireille threw up her hands in disgust. 'That does it!' She was fired up now. 'We've got to go back to work, in fact I shall write our listing up this minute!' Chloe and Kirika both nodded quickly to appease her, but Mireille had hardly waited for a response before she stormed off in search of her laptop. Assassin's hands rarely thrive in idleness.

Chloe continued scanning the letter, her eyes narrowing.

'Is that really all?' said Kirika, surprised.

The purple-haired girl was silent for a minute.

'She wasn't expecting to have to leave anything just yet. And apparently her preparations for the ceremony included large payments to a plastic surgeon in Spain.' She looked pleadingly at Kirika. 'Oh, I should have guessed! … all those times I caught her smearing lard on her lips!'

'Uh-oh.' Kirika moved over and awkwardly patted her on the head. 'Shhh Chloe … it's okay.' Now that she thought about it, Altena had had rather fat cheeks the last time she had seen her. She wondered if they had survived the fall into the depths of molten lava deep in the earth. Probably not, heat and plastic didn't mix very well.

They sat quietly for some time while Mireille fixed up their spiffy new web-listing on her laptop. Why did they still have the internet if everything else had been cut off? Most likely if you looked at the neighbour's internet bill you would find the answer … After a while, Kirika took advantage of the quiet to ask about something that had been worrying her.

'Chloe, do you think we are related?'

'… what?'

'I didn't want to bring this up before because it might have offended you, but I heard that baldness is hereditary …'

Chloe stared.

'I think I am losing my hair also …' said Kirika in a horrible whisper. 'I found so much on the floor I was even able to make a paintbrush out of it …' She held it up.

Silence.

'It was only happening since I got back from the Manor … Something happened there, Chloe. I think my hair remembers more of my past that I don't even know!'

'What??' The look on Chloe's face was beyond so much dismay that Kirika decided it might be kinder not to talk about it just now. She looked for a way to distract her.

'Would you like to have a picture painted?' She hastily dug up a sketchbook and began painting Chloe's portrait in the fading light, trying to reproduce a nice wide-eyed smile on the page instead of the gaping stare she was still looking at.

The calm and peace returned for a little while as the sun went down.

Then:

'Crap!!' yelled Mireille suddenly from the other side of the apartment. 'I made a typo!'

'What? Fix it then!' Chloe yelled back.

'I can't! I already pressed submit!!'

'What?!!' Chloe scrambled over, followed by Kirika, and prepared to verbally abuse Mireille just as the laptop gave a _'beep, beep, beep, beep!'_ and censored the rude words.

All three of them stared in dismay at their new 'for hire' listing now splashed across the screen.

**starting in business:****  
**

**Noor**

'Aw crap!!!!'

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